I did my 30 hours flying scholarship at Luton in 1967. The club house was still being used as a ‘doss house’ then. There was mention of the greasy spoon. My mates mum was the manageress, and is still alive, so I will not mention the comment of more grease than spoon! Britannia Airways buildings were between the greasy spoon and the tower. It was interesting reading about the Autair catering. The photo 1215 and the comments in 1217 jogged the memory. After finishing my 30 hours, I got a summer job with Harry Carras Catering. They did the catering for Autair, and were based in the buildings mentioned in 1215, and I remember going into Autair ops to get the flying programme each shift.
One day I walked in and Hazelden was briefing a pilot for a Herald base check. I looked interested and asked if I could come, and was taken!!! No idea what was going on but what a memory to have. The final words spoken to me by the great man were after we landed. The engines stopped and he came out of the cockpit, saw me in the front row of seats, and said;
‘Good god, I forgot you were here. Did you enjoy it?’
The flying bit of the flying club, was by then in the buildings attached to the hangar where the club aeroplanes were kept. We rarely used the main runway, using the grass strips instead. I don’t remember the commercial traffic being a problem, although perhaps we were a problem to them.